Motorcycles and Flickering Flames
by Laceknee1349
Summary: You always knew you'd end up with a guy like him, a strong stubborn mule with some killer arm muscles.
1. Motorcycles and Flickering Flames

So here's the low down, Your name is Lacey and you're a simple lady that likes her motorcycles, trucks, and killing animals, and you do kinda fancy that redneck Daryl Dixon. Enjoy the story!

Chapter one: Motorcycles and flickering flames

There wasn't time to think, only time to run. It first started with a few walkers gathering around the font gate and soon escalated to hundreds. It was the largest hoard the group had ever seen. The fences caved within minutes and the group was already shoving necessities into the bed of the s10 and into the back of the SUV. Rick was calm though, barking out orders so the others didn't need to think at all, just obey. Lacey and Daryl mounted their bikes, while the others got into the vehicles and took off away from the prison. The moans from the walkers were unnerving, sounding like they were approaching from all sides. Inside the SUV the air was thick with tension. No one spoke, not even Carl, he was too busy softly crying into his mothers shoulder. Lori was looking stiffly out the window, avoiding Rick.

"What's our plan?" Carol said softly to Rick, who was in the drivers seat positioned in front of her. His knuckles were white from grasping the wheel.

"Find a place to collect I guess," he shrugged, "try and think things through when we find a place to stay for the night," Carol nodded, glancing over at Lori who was still looking out the window with a blank stare. Hershel didn't speak up either; he trusted Rick's instincts and knew that he would keep the group safe at all costs. He knew Rick was a good man; he was just confused about what's been going on with Lori. The silence settled over them once again, no one dared speak, their thoughts were elsewhere. Behind the SUV Daryl and Lacey were calmly riding their bikes. Both wanting to speak to the other but knew they wouldn't be able to speak until they stopped. Lacey looked over at Daryl many times, always casting worried glances. He wished he could reassure her that everything would be okay, that they would find a place to stay and think about what to do next. Behind the two bikes was the s10, being driven by T-Dog.

"What's going to happen to us?" Maggie said, still shaking from the hoard at the prison, Glen wrapped a calm arm around her.

"I don't know yet," he sighed, kissing her lightly on the forehead.

"I bet things are gonna be just fine," T-Dog huffed, "we've been through worse shit right?" he looked over at Glen, he nodded in agreement before resting his chin on Maggie's head as she cuddled up into his chest. Hours passed and the sun was slowly setting on the horizon. The group continued forward until they came across a deserted campground. Half of the group had been sleeping, when the vehicles pulled into the campground and stopped everyone jerked awake.

"Are we staying here tonight?" Glenn asked T-Dog.

"I guess so," he grumbled, "looks safe enough I guess. They got out of the truck and started unpacking the luggage and tents, Daryl and Lacey dismounted their bikes stiffly in front of the truck.

"Fuck, my ass hurts," Daryl moaned as he stretched and cracked his back.

"I know right," Lacey agreed, doing a few stretches as well, "haven't ridden that long since last year," Daryl nodded and leaned up against the hood of the s-10

"I don't like being out in the open like this," Daryl said with a serious expression, glaring over at Rick, who was helping the others get the campsite set up for the night.

"I know, I'd rather be indoors but it's the best we can do I guess," Lacey leaned against the hood of the s-10 next to Daryl. She looked over at him with a worried expression coming across her face.

"Hey now," Daryl grunted, in a slight attempt to be caring, "We're gonna be just fine, aint nothing gonna happen," he placed his hand on her shoulder as she sighed, turning to him and nodding in agreement slightly. Nothing was guaranteed, but she knew they just needed to try their best to protect themselves.

"Hey!" Glenn called over to Lacey and Daryl, "Wanna set up these tents? You two are the fastest at it," Daryl nodded as the two of them walked over. It was true; they were the best at all this outdoor living stuff. Both had went camping many times in their youth and both loved to do it, until the end of the world at least.

"I hate putting up this fucking tent," Lacey moaned as she took out all the polls in the bag, "Too damn confusing when all you wanna do is sleep," Daryl nodded curtly as they continued to set up the large tent. When they were finished they could smell Carols amazing cooking and were lead by the smell to the small fire. Carol and Beth were working on the food while Carl, Lori, Hershel, and Maggie sat curled up in blankets by the fire. Lacey could see Rick out of the corner of her eye finishing putting up one of the smaller tents before walking over to the fire.

"Should probably put up my tent," Daryl said to Lacey when they were closer to the fire, "I'm probably gonna take next watch, we can share the tent like we did before," Lacey nodded, "I know it'll be a lil' different without Merle but I think you'd still feel safer," the three of them had shared a tent before, when they first found her running for her life from a herd of walkers. They took her in, kept her safe from the walkers. She had already known how to fight so she liked to think that they saw her as an asset rather than a liability. When they first joined the larger group she had shared a tent with Andrea, but now that she was gone she often slept in a tent alone, which always made her nervous.

"Alright, thanks," she smiled softly, "you know which bag is mine," he nodded and headed over towards the bed of the truck while Lacey walked over to the group of people. She sat down right next to Maggie and Hershel.

"How was the bike ride?" Maggie asked with a laugh, knowing it probably wasn't very pleasant at all.

"Well my ass hurts like a mother fucker, and my back hurts like hell," Lacey, Maggie, and Hershel laughed, Lori gave her a stern look. Lacey brushed Loris look off and turned her attention to Carol who was handing out the plates of food. She smiled sweetly down at Lacey and handed two plates over to her.

"The second one is for Daryl, I know he must be starving," Lacey nodded and took the two plates, eating from one and setting the second one on the ground beside her.

Daryl had finished setting up their tent and quickly organizing their things, he sighed slightly as he zipped it up. He had positioned their tent by their bikes, which were far away from the other tents. He knew he should have set it up closer but he felt more comfortable with the tent near the bikes just in case. He looked over at the fire and saw Lacey smiling and laughing with Maggie, Hershel was obviously telling them one of his funny stories that Lacey loved to hear. Daryl looked at Lacey intently, taking her all in. her long curly brown hair that she had taken down from her usual ponytail, he liked it when she let her hair down. He admired the way her hands moved as she spoke and the way she smiled so genuinely. He caught himself though, knowing he probably looked like a dumbass just standing there looking at her. He kicked himself in the ass and headed over to the fire, his boots kicking up chunks of dirt. He sat down slowly next to Lacey while he picked up the plate of food sitting next to her. She smiled at him before returning to the conversation with Maggie and Hershel. He ate quietly while looking at the flames of the fire; his gazing was interrupted by Rick clearing his throat.

"So we stay here a few nights as we think of what to do next, Daryl and Glenn get first watch, then its T-Dog and myself. Rest peacefully tonight," he said before tipping his head and sitting down again. There were a few murmurs around the group but Daryl ignored them as he finished up his dinner and headed out for his first watch. Dinner was short, everyone wanting to get to bed. Lacey said her goodnights before heading over to her and Daryl's tent. She took her shoes off and slowly unzipped the door, looking around the tent for her things. She saw her bag placed on the left next to Daryl's bag. She changed into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts before directing her attention to the bed. Her Hello Kitty stuffed animal was placed on top, she smiled to herself and took the stuffed animal into her arms and snuggled under the warm blankets. She was able to drift off to sleep after about an hour of daydreaming.

When Daryl finished his watch he was antsy to get to the tent, he walked briskly over to the tent and took his shoes off and placed them next to Lacey's. He slowly unzipped the tent and looked in, seeing Lacey sleeping with her arms around her stuffed cat. He looked at her soft face and couldn't help but smile. He crept inside and changed quickly, when he was done he carefully lowered himself into the bed and faced toward Lacey's sleeping form, it felt a little weird without Merle there but there was more room at least. He sighed and laid on his back, looking at the ceiling of the tent. He was glad she was safe, lying there next to him. He knew things could have went bad today and he could have lost her. Daryl didn't like the idea of caring about someone that wasn't of his own blood, Lacey made him confused. He knew she was very similar to him, more similar to him than the rest of the group. Caring about someone was hard, always worrying about them, thinking about them. It made thinking more complicated than it needed to be, it could interfere with his survival. But he knew that if she didn't survive through all of this he wouldn't know what to do with himself. With her he felt like he had a purpose.

"Daryl?" Lacey whispered as she rolled to face him, he sighed, hoping that he hadn't woken her up.

"Yeah?" he responded, looking over to see her worried expression, "what's that look for Blondie?"

"I'm just scared I guess," her voice shook a little as she spoke, he sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes, her moist green and brown eyes.

"Ain't nothing gonna happen to you, I'm right here," he said sternly to her, she nodded, "I'm here to protect ya, remember that," her lip quivered and he knew she wanted to cry. He hated it when she cried, he could tell though that she was trying very hard to hold it all back from him.

"I know," she looked down and away from him, "I'm sorry for being weak."

"Ya aint weak," he took hold of her chin gently and turned her face to face him, "I'm scared shitless, okay?" he ran his hand over her jawbone and caressed her cheek with his thumb, "I thought I was gonna loose you today and that scared the hell outta me."

"I thought I was gonna loose you too," a tear rolled down her cheek, he took his hand away from her face.

"You need to sleep, you look exhausted," he told her, she nodded, rubbing away her tear with her hand, "And Blondie, you're fucking strong. Don't forget it, just like a Dixon," she smiled softly at him with her bloodshot eyes before lying back down. Daryl rolled over to face her and gave a half smile and held his hand out hesitantly, not really knowing if it would help. He didn't know about this comforting shit, but whenever he would sleep with his mom when his dad didn't come home she would hold his hand as they slept. Lacey grabbed the hand slowly, when he wrapped his hand around hers and she smiled into her pillow. She couldn't remember the last time someone held her hand, she missed it. That night they fell asleep, close together with their hands connected.

Please leave a review :) and any suggestions of course!


	2. Urgent breathing

On to Chapter two! enjoy!

Chapter two: Urgent breathing

Daryl awoke to some murmuring near the tent, he could tell it was Rick and Glenn. They sounded slightly aggravated and worried at the same time, he wanted to go out there and figure out what was going on. He could feel Lacey's head resting against his chest, in a deep sleep. He sighed slightly, not really wanted to get up, he knew Lacey didn't sleep much so she needed this. He strained his hearing to try and figure out what Rick and Glen were discussing.

"It's not safe here Rick," Daryl heard Glen say in a rushed voice.

"I know that Glenn, but we aren't ready to move on just yet," Ricks voice followed.

"I just saw three walkers around here, we gotta leave soon," When Daryl heard that he sat up quickly in bed, forgetting Lacey was sleeping on him. She lolled over to the side and made some noises, he was out of the tent within seconds standing over Rick and Glens crouched bodies.

"The fuck did I just hear?" Daryl growled, there was an unzipping noise from the tent and he whipped his head around quickly to see Lacey stumbled out of the tent and land on her face. He could tell she was still half asleep and he wanted to scoop her up and lay her back in bed but there were more important things going on.

"I saw a few walkers, it's not safe here," Glen said quietly to Daryl, Daryl looked sternly at Rick, who was looking away.

"Well obviously we need to pack up and head out," Daryl grunted, Rick gave a stiff nod.

"You're right," he looked back over at Glen, "When everyone gets up we better start getting packed."

"Right," Glen grumbled before stalking off to his tent, Daryl could see T-Dog eyeing them from the top of the s10.

"You better get back to sleep, and get Lacey out of the grass," Rick said with a neutral voice, Daryl nodded and turned to see Lacey still face first in the grass. He smiled a little before walking over to her, she mumbled something as he approached her.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked her playfully as she attempted to get up.

"I'm fucking sleeping, what does it look like?" she grunted from the ground, he laughed gruffly, helping her up and back into the tent. She slowly laid back down into the bed, Daryl was turning to leave when she grabbed his wrist. He turned quickly, wondering if something was wrong, she had a worried expression on her face.

"Don't go," she said shyly, "I mean, it's easier to sleep when you're here."

"Okay," he sighed, lowering himself into the warm bed, smelling her lovely scent as she snuggled under the covers. He had the urge to hold her close to him, to feel her warm body against his, he reached an arm our hesitantly, wanting to drape it over her. But he stopped, his arm halfway to her when he heard screams coming from the center of camp, "oh fuck," he muttered, Lacey bolted up as well. Within seconds their feet were pounding against the wet grass. Both were holding their weapons at the ready, glancing around the camp quickly to see what the cause of the screaming was. There were walkers coming in quickly, Lacey could see T-Dog take about four down quickly with Glenn at his side. She paused and stared when she saw Lori being dragged away by walkers, Rick was screaming and running towards her. Lacey took in a sharp breath when the walkers began to rip Loris flesh from her struggling body. She was punching away at the walkers; obviously she lacked a proper weapon. Even from several yards away Lacey thought she could hear the elastic sounding ripping of flesh. Rick tackled down a walker, stabbing it through the eye socket quickly before moving onto another; Lori was already puking up blood.

"Get behind me Blondie!" Daryl yelled urgently, guarding her with a protective stance, taking down a few walkers with his crossbow.

"They got Lori, Daryl!" Lacey cried as she grabbed Daryl shoulder, while slightly hyperventilating. Daryl wrapped his arm around her shoulders and stared directly into her eyes with a serious and deadly look on his face.

"Get out your fucking machete and kill some fucking walkers so we can get the hell outta here," Walkers were approaching them quickly as Lacey hardened her heart and whipped out her machete and grasped it tightly in her hands.

"Let's kill these fuckers," she growled, Daryl nodded and they leaped forward. Lacey took down two quickly, blood spraying onto her clothing and guttural sounds escaping from her mouth. Maggie was being cornered by a few walkers against the van, Lacey sprinted to her side and rammed her machete through the side of the head, there was a loud crunching sound but it didn't bother her in the least. Maggie kicked back one and stabbed it through the forehead, tacking it to the ground. She was panting hard and the third walker was quickly looming over her. Lacey sliced its head off and kicked the leaking body to the side before helping Maggie up.

"We gotta get out of here," she said between ragged breaths.

"I am aware, but we can take this heard down," Lacey looked to the left to see Daryl and Glen killing walker after walker, they sure were getting good at it.

"Lacey, Maggie!" Carl screamed from the right, he was sprinting over to Lacey and Maggie, tears streaming down his cheek. Hershel was behind him, covering Carl and shooting down Walkers with his shotgun.

"Get behind us Carl," Maggie said sternly to him, he nodded and stepped behind the two girls, Hershel continued to take down walkers while looking around for Beth.

"Beth!" He yelled, looking around urgently. He looked to Maggie and Lacey with a frightened expression, "Have you two seen Beth?"

"I-I don't know," Maggie mumbled, getting ready for the approaching walkers.

"There are more coming," Rick yelled to them from the side of the s10, he was covered in blood and shivering.

"We gotta get the hell outta here," Daryl said, suddenly appearing at Lacey's side with Glen right beside him. Lacey looked at him long and hard before nodding, knowing they didn't have a chance anymore. It was a frenzy, grabbing essentials while killing off walkers at the same time. They had gotten everything they needed in about ten minutes, ten terrible minutes.

"Where the fuck is my-" Lacey was muttering as she was searching through the tent violently.

"Here," Daryl said, holding out her Hello Kitty stuffed cat out for her to grab. Lacey nodded and shoved it in her bag quickly before they quickly got out of the tent, killing two walkers while they headed to the bikes. Kicking up their kickstands and starting their bikes, signaling to the others that they were ready to go.

"Get in the truck Beth!" Maggie called from the bed of the truck, Beth was struggling to walk a few yards away, and she looked sickly as she staggered forward. She was grasping her left arm with the other, blood running down it and dripping to the ground.

"I'm bit!" She cried to Maggie, Maggie screeched before Beth continued talking. Walkers continued to walk towards her, "I'll distract them! Just go!" Maggie already had tears running down her cheeks, she quickly whipped them away before nodding. Beth turned to walk quickly away from the group, walkers getting closer and closer to her.

"We gotta get going!" Daryl called to the others and they were off, driving quickly away and searching for another safe place. Lacey was all but shaking on her bike, Daryl looked nervously at her from time to time. But he wasn't that worried about her, he knew she could handle herself just fine, he was sure she was just morning the loss of their friends. They had lost Lori and Beth just like that, he was scared once again about loosing Lacey. He didn't want to imagine if she had taken the place of Lori or Beth that day, he decided to protect her better, make sure nothing would happen to her. He thought about Merle, knowing he would feel the same as he did. Merle should be there with him, helping him protect this strong girl they both cared about. It was hours of driving, more than he was used to, he could feel his stomach ache for food. Lacey was also starving, they hadn't eaten since the day before, both of them hoped to god there would be a break soon. T-Dog gave the signal and they all pulled over to the side of the road.

"Damn, my ass hurts and my stomach is killing me," Lacey groaned as she took her helmet off, Daryl laughed slightly as he dismounted his bike and walked over to her.

"Yeah, I could go for a nice bed and some good food," Daryl stretched before him and Lacey headed over to the group, Carol and Glen were setting up the grill quickly as Maggie was unpacking the food supplies.

"I am fucking dying over here from hunger," T-Dog groaned before getting out of the s10.

"You'll have your food soon," Maggie laughed half heartedly, obviously still having her mind on Beth. Hershel and Rick were chatting quietly over by the van, Ricks eyes seemed to still be slightly bloodshot, his hand was resting on Carls shoulder.

"How are you two doing?" Glen asked Lacey and Daryl, referring to the long trip they had to take on the bikes.

"Oh fuck," Lacey stammered, when a sudden strong urge to pee hit her, "I need to piss so badly," she mumbled before grabbing a toilet paper roll and jogging quickly to the trees.

"Well okay," Glen laughed before patting Daryl on the shoulder, "better make sure a walker doesn't get to your lover," Daryl froze, making Glen laugh harder.

"Stupid girl," he muttered before heading after her. Lacey made it to a nice tree and her pants fell to the ground as fast as gravity allowed, she kept a sharp eye out for any stray walkers. It felt so good to release herself. Once she was done she could hear cracking branches from behind her, she yanked her pants up half-heartedly and grabbed her machete.

"It's just me," Daryl said, seeing the machete in her grasp. His eyes wandered slowly to her unbuttoned pants that exposed a hint of pink lace.

"Sorry," she responded before lowering her weapon, placing it back in its sheath, "I guess I shouldn't have run off so quick."

"It's fine, I really need to piss too," he laughed, "so just watch my back," Lacey nodded as he turned to face a tree, his thoughts still on that glimpse of lace he saw. It felt a heavy sense of relief once he let loose all his piss. When he was done he zipped his pants back up and they headed back towards the others, feeling refreshed.

"Think this is a good place to camp tonight?" Daryl and Lacey overheard Rick say to T-Dog.

"We're all exhausted and hungry, plus we haven't seen any walkers for miles," Rick nodded slightly at T-Dogs words.

"Alright," he sighed, "But we better head out quickly in the morning," Rick turned to the group just as Daryl and Lacey took two seats next to Hershel and Glen, "so it looks like we're gonna camp out here tonight, but get ready to leave first think in the morning," there were no objections from the tired and hungry group.

"Here," Carol said, giving out the plates to Hershel, Lacey, and Daryl. Her gaze fell on Daryl and she smiled slightly at him, he nodded at her as he took the plate her offered him.

"I'm so tired," Lacey sighed as she ate large bites of food lazily, "Getting sick of riding the bikes long distances."

"We could try getting a truck, haul one bike onto the bed of the s10 then the other in the other truck," Daryl added before taking a big swig of water.

"We'll here's all the blankets we got you guys," Maggie announced as she walked towards the fire, a stack of blankets in her arms, "There isn't enough for all of us, but some are pretty big I guess," she began handing the blankets out, giving one large one to Rick and Carl, a medium size one for Hershel, T-Dog and Glen refused to take a blanket. T-Dog offered his to Carol, she smiled and took the offer. She continued splitting them up for the others, lastly heading to Lacey and Daryl, who weren't really paying attention.

"We could skin the deer we kill," Lacey added, Daryl and her were discussing turning pelts into blankets. Daryl laughed slightly, before interrupted by Maggie.

"Well here's the last blanket you two, split it how you like," she smiled and winked at Daryl before turning away.

"It's no big deal Daryl," Lacey said calmly, "you can have it."

"Like hell I will," he growled, shoving the blanket into Lacey's lap, "I want you to have it."

"But Daryl," she sighed, looking down and fidgeting with the fabric in her lap, "We can share it," she automatically regretted what she said, Daryl huffed.

"I dunno Blondie, you kick a lot in your sleep," he smiled softly before continuing, "but yeah, we'll share. If that's what you wanna do."

"Alright," Lacey smiled, draping the blanket over both of their legs, Daryl felt a little awkward being so close to her with all the others around. He didn't mind when they were in the tent, but he didn't want the others to think that he was weak. He looked over at Rick and Carl to see that they had already fallen asleep, Carol and T-Dog were keeping watch, Maggie and Glen were cuddled under a blanket. Hershel was sitting up, leaning against the tire of the s10, gazing into the distance. Daryl was exhausted from the day, and he was also very glad he wasn't taking watch that night. He looked over to where Lacey had been sitting and noticed she was now curled up in a ball in the grass. She was breathing slowly and evenly.

"Keep her warm," Hershel said to Daryl, Daryl looked up so see the soft, caring expression on Hershel's face, "you know she hates the cold," Daryl nodded before grabbing Lacey's bag and taking out her stuffed cat. He felt like an idiot holding the thing but he knew it meant a lot to her, he tucked it under her arm before slowly lying down next to her.

"Good night Daryl," he heard her saw softly, he smiled.

"Good night," he slowly moved closer to her, his chest now touching her back. He was glad she didn't flinch away from his touch. He took a deep breath and put his arm around her waist, holding her to him. He smelled her hair, he remembered when him and Merle first found her. She was a lot cleaner, her hair smelt wonderful, he knew that because when they slept all he could smell was her hair. He couldn't smell it anymore thought, it had been a while since they got properly cleaned, it wasn't her fault.

"Daryl," Lacey said softly to him, his heart stopped, was she not comfortable with this?

"Yeah?" he managed to make out, his voice was gruff and sounded a little too stern.

"I like this," she grabbed his hand tenderly, he sighed before responding.

"Good," he decided that wasn't a good enough response, "I like it too, easier to keep track of ya," she laughed at his reply before drifting off to sleep once again. Daryl couldn't fall asleep for quite some time, being out in the open bothered him a bit. He held Lacey tighter in his arms whenever he heard a branch break in the distance or a creak from one of the vehicles. Slowly his brain let him drift into unconsciousness.

Reviews and suggestions always welcome!


	3. Chapter three: When the air meets the sk

Sorry if this chapter may seem a tad short, oh well!

TTTTTTTTTT

Chapter three: When the air meets the skin

Daryl awoke slowly to the early morning light, Lacey and him had moved positions in the night, and his arm was resting on her stomach, under her shirt while his head was tucked into her neck. He could hear her slow and light breathing, she was always so quiet when she slept, at least when she wasn't sleep talking. He took a deep breath, taking in the morning air and her scent all at once. He was still half asleep, not fully aware of what he was doing or his surroundings. He slid his hand around her waist and pulled her closer to him, her eyes slowly fluttered open. She gazed up at the sky for a while before turning her head to look at Daryl.

"Sorry fer wakin ya' up," he mumbled gruffly to her, smiling slightly, he was in a daze.

"Eh, it's fine," she gave him a slight smile, "we should go hunting soon anyways," she shivered a little before snuggling under the blankets more.

"Here," Daryl muttered as he reached to their bags to grab Lacey's heavy leather jacket. He handed it to her, when she grasped it she noticed it was freezing cold.

"Gonna be one of those days," she sighed, stretching her arms our and groaning a little, "I can just smell it, I'm gonna be freezing all day."

"Well hopefully we'll be on the road again soon," he looked down the road and spotted a red dodge Dakota he had noticed the night before, "We could rig that truck up and load the bikes, gettin sick of riding on the bikes for hours in this weather," Lacey nodded as she hugged her stuffed cat in her arms.

"Well, we better get up," she stood up quickly and hefted her jacket on. She was always quick to waking up, Daryl was too. He got up as well, ignoring the cold air as it touched his skin. Lacey tossed her stuffed cat in her bag and started folding up the blanket. Daryl put on his poncho before putting his things away as well; he got his bow and watched Lacey fold up the blanket.

"Too bad ya don't have a bow too," Daryl commented as he inspected his crossbow, "They're nice, can't really use the gun now cause of the walkers."

"But atleast I'm good company," She laughed as she set the folded blanket next to their things. She attached her bowie knife to her belt quickly and smoothly.

"Ya, yer good back up," he added, Lacey walked up to him and Adjusted her jacket before slipping on her gloves.

"I try," she laughed, he liked to hear her laugh, "well we should get going."

"Ya, sounds good," they headed to the woods near camp. They walked quietly next to each other, there wasn't much noise besides the crunching of leaves under their feet and the birds above them. Daryl could hear Lacey breathing evenly a few steps away from him. She had a relaxed look on her face as she scanned the area, looking out for walkers. Daryl, on the other hand, was looking for some fresh meat. After a couple of minutes he spotted a large rabbit a couple yards away. They crouched and he aimed swiftly at it and took it down. Lacey grabbed it quickly and put it in their game bag, the zipper made a quickly loud noise and then they continued on. Daryl casted side glances at her through out their trip, watching her movements and expressions as they continued on their hunt. The air was crisp and fresh, Lacey inhaled and sighed happily as she exhaled.

"I love this smell, the smell of the coming winter," she smiled as she tucked her hands in her pockets. She looked to Daryl, he wore a neutral expression as he watched her, "do you like winter Daryl?"

"Never really liked any season I guess," he shrugged, scanning the area again for some animals.

"What about summer? Doesn't everyone like summer?"

"Not really," he responded lamely, Lacey decided to drop the subject once Daryl spotted a fox. He didn't hesitate to kill it, it went down quickly and the two of them walked leisurely to it. Lacey leaned down and stroked the tail of it softly.

"Such a nice tail," she muttered to herself as she continued to stroke it.

"I can take the bones out and tan if fer yah," Daryl said as he picked up the dead fox and placed it in the game bad that was slung across Lacey's shoulders.

"That would be awesome," She smiled wildly at him, he gave a tight grin as they continued through the woods. Daryl killed four squirrels and then they decided to head back to the others. Daryl walked behind her a few paces, watching the way her hair shifted slightly in the wind. The way the light reflected off of the small strands, he couldn't help but let his gaze fall to her butt. She wore reasonably tight pants that showed the curves greatly, he caught himself though. He knew they're wasn't any time for that sort of stuff during the end of the world. He looked away from her, deciding to focus on the trees that surrounded them. The light filtering through the remaining leaves on the trees.

"You know at times like this it doesn't seem like it's the end of the world," Lacey sighed, running her hands over the bark of a birch tree, she peeled a segment of bark off slowly. Once it was off she examined it, peeling the layers apart slowly with a content expression. Daryl didn't know what to say to her, he held himself back from wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his head on her shoulder. He just stood there watching her, wondering about what her life was like before the end of the world, what her friends were like and what her family was like. He had never asked her things like that, they always talked about here and now, nothing else. He wondered for a second about the guys that she had been with, what they were like, and how they treated her. He ran his hands through his somewhat greasy hair and looked at the surrounding landscape.

"You know it's not the end of the world Blondie," he leaned up against a tree and crossed his arms, "the world will still be here once we're all gone," Lacey looked down at the forest floor, Daryl regretted his words. He knew she wanted to cling to the hope that everything would still be alright in the end, "Lacey, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," she interrupted, "Don't worry about it," he couldn't help it, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the nearest tree and looked her in the eyes.

"But we ain't gonna die any time soon Blondie, alright?" she avoided his eye contact, he grabbed her by the chin and forced her to face him, probably a little more forcefully than he should have, "I ain't gonna allow it," she looked into his eyes, her focus not faltering.

"I know," he said through shallow breathing, he leaned into her, inches from her face. Her sent filling his nose, he loosened his grip on her and looked at her trembling lips. His breathing quickened and he inched closer to her, his nose brushing her cheek. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, her hand rested on his chest then traveled up to wrap around his neck. Their lips were almost touching now, his mind was going crazy with thought. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, it was not the time for intimacy and definitely not the time for greatly caring about someone. He ground his teeth in frustration, Lacey's eyes opened slowly and when their eyes met he knew he didn't care, "fuck it," he growled before pulling her to him. Their lips crashed with a great amount of urgency, his hands traveled down to grasp her back as she pulled his head closer to her. He was hungry for her, he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his middle. He didn't know much about these kind of things other than what he saw on movies and read in books. He could tell he was slightly shaking, he had never really been this nervous before. She was relaxed though, liquid in his arms, her movements matched his. His kisses traveled down her jawline then down her neck.

"Daryl," he heard her say, he hesitated, his breath hot on her neck, "what are we doing?" she said with a shaky voice.

"I don't know," Daryl rested his forehead against her shoulder, now looking down at the soil below them, "I don't know what the fuck we're doing."

"Should we be doing this?" she asked, mostly to herself.

"I don't see why the hell not," he ran his hands up and down the side of her waist, he began kissing the side of her neck once again softly. She ran her hands through his hair, her eyes focusing on something in the distance.

"Alright," she said quietly, he kissed her softly, first with quickly pecks then to long movements. Their tongues darting in and out of each others mouths. Lacey's hands slowly traveled up Daryl's shirt feeling his stomach as Daryl's hands grabbed her butt forcefully. She jumped and he grinned awkwardly down at him, it still felt pretty awkward to him to do all this stuff to her. Luckily Lacey seemed like she really knew what she was doing. They slowly moved to the ground, Lacey was straddling Daryl and kissing his neck. He grabbed her thighs and began to rub them slowly.

"We should get going," She whispered tenderly into his ear, tickling him with her breath. Daryl groaned slightly, before replying to her.

"Why the hell should we?" he inquired, she laughed a little before he pulled her back down for a deep kiss, holding the sides of her face delicately, not wanting to hurt her but also not wanting to let her go.

"The others might worry," she giggled before trailing her kisses down his throat, he sighed, grabbing her waist with a longing look in his eyes, "you know, they might think some walkers got to us," Daryl rolled his eyes in response before Lacey dismounted him and stood up, her arm on the birch tree that stood nearby. She could see the bulge in his pants and she couldn't help but grin down at him. He got up slowly then adjusted his pants to that he was comfortable once again.

"Well lets get going," he said as he began walking towards camp. Lacey followed closely behind him, eyeing his hand that was dangling at his side. She wanted to grab it and hold it like couples normally did, were they a couple though? She pushed the question out of her head and decided to hell with it all and grabbed his hand. He flinched at her grasp but realized quickly what her intentions were. He hand never held a girls hand, was that normal? He didn't know but apparently that's what Lacey wanted to do. Their fingers intertwined as the walked slowly back to the group. Lacey smiled and looked up at the brightening sky, wondering how the rest of the day was going to go.

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